Gas washing apparatus having a rotating bowl pump

ABSTRACT

1,047,705. Gas washers. AJEM LABORATORIES, Inc. June 4, 1963 [June 4, 1962], No. 22184/63. Heading B1R. A gas washer of the type having a rotating spray generator in the form of a cage 30 has a hollow frusto-conical pump body 34 secured to a ring 33 at the base of the cage, at least the lower end of the body 34 dipping into washing liquid in the base of the washer housing. The connection between the pump body and the cage may be substantially fluid-tight and the body may be cylindrical or bowl-shaped. Impeller vanes may be arranged on the internal surface of the pump body and in some modification (Figs. 4 and 5 not shown) stationary vanes are provided on a rod extending upwardly from the base of the washer housing into the mouth of the pump body.

May 31, 1966 R. M. JAMISON 3,253,821

GAS WASHING APPARATUS HAVING A ROTATING BOWL PUMP Filed June 4, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 M,M%ML

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May 31, 1966 R. M. JAMISON 3,253,821

GAS WASHING APPARATUS HAVING A ROTATING BOWL PUMP F-iled June 4, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ill INVENTOR. IP08f/i7' M. JZ/V/JUA @m MMUL United States Patent 3,253,821 GAS WASHING APPARATUS HAVING A ROTATING BOWL PUMP Robert M. Jamison, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Agem Laboratories, Inc, Livonia, Mich. Filed June 4, 1962, Ser. No. 199,924 Claims. (Cl. 26129) This invention relates to apparatus for treating gases with liquids, and more particularly to air washers and air-washing dust collectors, and solids concentrating, and

the like; and to liquid moving devices, and particularly liquid elevating devices for supplying liquid thereto. More particularly this invention relates to pumps adapted to supply spray generators and impellers such as are required in apparatus of the type mentioned above.

In several earlier patents of myself and my associates, there have been described the structure and use of a rotating distributor and spray generating cage which con verts a flow of liquid into a dense, dispersed spray driven radially through a flow of gas for purifying said gas and removal and collecting of contaminants therefrom, and especially for removal of solid particulate matter, liquid droplets and chemical substances, even in the gaseous state.

In one such earlier patent, No. 2,789,866, a spray generating cage is mounted on a vertical drive shaft having a driven connection at the top of the shaft and extending downwardly from bearings in its upper portion. At the lower end of the shaft is the rotatable spray generating cage, consisting of a hub and a circularly arranged series of rods secured to end discs (or at the bottom a ring may be used instead of a disc), to form a barrel shaped cage with the lower end open. The rods, or other cage elements, are adapted to act as impact members for spattering drops of liquid into finer drops when the cage is rotated at high speed to impel the resulting droplets outward through the gas around the cage. This barrelshaped impeller may be short or long depending upon the particular application, the diameter of the circle on which the impact elements are arranged and the speed at which it is to be rotated.

Other types of spray-generating apparatus and air treating devices have had the shaft extending axially through the barrel or cage and mounted in a bearing below the cage; such bearing can be external or, where the liquid below the cage is such that it is desirable to protect the bearing from it, the shaft may be telescoped with a fixed shaft extended downward from above or up from the bottom to support such bearing and may be sealed together with one of the known shaft seals.

Several kinds of pumps have been used to force the liquid up from the tank or reservoir into the rotating cage and to produce the initial breaking up of the liquid into larger drops or slugs of liquid which can be thrown against the impact elements of the cage. These pumps are sometimes on the lower end of the shaft which, as shown in said patent, also carries a fan, a drive pulley and the rotating cage. Most often such devices as constructed by my associates and employer have been vane type or the screw-impeller type, e.g., as shown in the patent of Schimpke, No. 2,599,202, identified therein by the reference character 45, and in the patent of Umbricht, No.

2,889,005, identified by the reference character 56. External pumps have also been used; but they require extra electrical controls and additional motors to drive them, as well as piping or other connections to convey the output of the pump to the intake port of the cage. Another apparatus of this type embodying inventions of myself and O. M. Arnold is disclosed in the co-pending application Ser. No. 138,472, filed September 15, 1961, now Patent No. 3,194,544; and another type of spray generator in a Patented May 31, 1966 similar air washing apparatus is disclosed in my co-pending application Ser. No. 80,822, filed January 5, 1961, now Patent No. 3,168,596.

It is an object of the present invention to make a compact and simple internal pump for such purposes and with coaxial arrangement of parts, if desired, and with or without direct coupling of rotating parts.

I have now provided a new type of internal pump adapted for feeding liquid into a spray generating cage, e.g., of the rod or vane type. The striking feature of this new pump design is that it supplies liquid to the rotating spray generator without a lower stationary part or pump housing, and ordinarily without a bearing below the pump. In my novel pump the liquid is delivered to the spray generating cage, etc., by rotating the entire pump assembly while it is totally or partially immersed in liquid being pumped.

The new pump assembly of this invention can be attached directly to the lower part of the spray generating rotor or other rotary device for modifying the liquid, e.g., by filtering, mixing or spraying, and such spray device may be of the cage type with rods, etc., or a vane type, e.g., as in my prior co-pending application Ser. No. 80,822, filed January 5, 1961, now Patent No. 3,168,- 596. Thus a simple form of this new pump has direct attachment to the bottom of the spray generator or other rotor, requiring no separate drive nor separate driving connections. However, it can be independently driven, e.g., if different speeds are desired for the pump and cage respectively; or it can be geared down from the spraygenerating rotor, e.g., by planetary gearing to a fixed shaft telescoped inside the drive shaft; or by hydraulic coupling with an hydraulic torque converter or turbine liquid to be driven upward into the spray-generating device. One may select from the variety of known vanes and vane arrangements according to the volume of liquid required to be displaced, the control required, and the speed of rotation desired. 8

In the accompanying drawings and the following more detailed description is set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and certain modifications and alternatives. It is to be understood that these are not intended to be exhaustive or to represent the only ways of practicing the invention. and presented with a view to explaining the principles of the invention as well as the best mode contemplated for carrying out the invention, so that other skilled in the art may be enabled to make use of the same and to adapt it in various forms and with various modifications, each as may be best suited to the conditions of a particular use.

In these drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic axial section of an air washer embodying the present invention in a structure of the type set forth and claimed in the Patent No. 2,889,005;

FIGURE 2 is a view in axial section on an enlarged scale of a pump similar to that shown in the air washer of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 but of a different design of pump;

FIGURE 4 is a similar view of another pump embodying this invention; and

On the contrary, these are selected FIGURE 5 is a similar view with a cylindrical pump consists of a reservoir, or tank 10, at the bottom of a housing 12 near the top of which are a series of spray eliminators 14. A shaft 15 operates in a bearing 16 which is held rigidly centered with respect to the housing 12 by means of the spray-eliminators 14, and a second bearing 18 on the top of the housing. Multiple pulleys 20 at the top of the shaft provide for a V-belt drive connection with a motor (not shown).

A blower 22 near the top of the shaft serves to suck air up through the housing and drive it out through the exit duct 24-. A duct 26 provides for inlet of air, or

other gas to be washed, into the housing and this discharges behind an annular baffle 28.

At the center of the space within the baffle 28 is a rotating-cage spray generator 30 which is secured on the shaft 15. At the top of the spray generatoris a disc 32 and at the bottom a ring 33, below which with its top edge close to the opening in the ring 33, is a pump bowl 34 secured on the end of the shaft so that it operates with at least its bottom immersed in the liquid in the tank 10. At least in the lower part of this pump bowl are impeller vanes 36; advantageously, these impeller vanes are sloped downward in the direction of rotation, e.g., in the example illustrated in FIGURE 1 of the drawings, 15.

The bowl itself is a surface of revolution, thus it may be truly bowl shaped, more or less hemispherical, cylindrical or a truncated conical form. The length and the diameter are matters of design for individual installations and will be determined largely by the volume of flow which it is required to deliver and the rpm. which is considered desirable for operation. Advantageously the bowl flares outward in an upward direction so as to take advantage of centrifugal force in aid of, or in lieu of, the impeller action of the vanes. Such flaring should best begin below the normal liquid level.

In general the dimensions will be of the order of inches or a foot, or more; likewise, the height may vary from a few inches to three feet or more. The pump may be conical, or other flaring surface of rotation, over its entire length or only for a short segment in which the pump bowl is immersed in liquid. The vanes advantageously are positioned to extend to, and advantageously to be submerged in, the liquid in the reservoir. The outward slope of the pump bowl from the intake opening may be selected at will, but ordinarily will vary from zero (for a cylindrical pump) to 60 from the axis of rotation, and will ordinarily be in the range'from 6 to 36 inches in length.

Vanes are not necessary to operations of the pump but do greatly enhance its effectiveness. Such vanes if used advantageously extend below the normal liquid level so that the pump does not require priming. They may be radial and parallel to the axis or they may be forwardly inclined, parallel to the axis or curved with respect to the direction of rotation. As there are wide variations in the applications for such pumps and the respective' speeds at which shafts to which they may be applied are necessarily rotated, it is an advantage of the present invention that it may be tailored to such varying requirements to give the desired Volume of flow.

As shown in FIGURES 3, 4 and 5, the bowl 3412-d (shown in section) has at its top an annular flange 38 which is bolted to the bottom ring 33 of the spray generator cage to provide for driving the bowl in rotation.

As shown in FIGURE 2 an alternative is indicated in which the shaft 15a is extended and the vanes 36 extend inward at the bottom to form a spider 37 and likewise a spider is formed at the top, by which the cone is mounted on the bottom of the shaft 15a. In the instance shown the slope of the sides of the cone is 20 to the axis, but this is not regarded as critical; other slopes may be used as indicated above.

The upper interior rim of the cone, that is, the inner opening of the flange 38, substantially coincides with the central opening of the annular ring 33 at the bottom of the cage 30.

FIGURE 3 shows a bowl 34b approximating a hemispherical shape and with vanes 36b on its inside extending parallel to the axis and meeting at the bottom of the bowl. I

FIGURE 4 shows still another variant in which the bowl 34c carrying the impeller vanes 360 is mounted on the bottom of the cage by means of the annular flange 38; and a stationary post 40 secured to the bottom of the tank 10 extends up into the center of the pump 34c and is provided with vanes 42 which have a narrow clearance from the moving vanes 36c. These stationary vanes, ordinarily vertically positioned, coact with, which may be sloping or spiral, vanes on the rotating cone to give an increased pumping action. It will be noted that, in FIGURE 4, the corners of the vanes 36c are rounded off, this can of course be done with any of the others and thepurpose is to avoid catching on materials in the tank such as rags or string, etc., which might interfere with the action of the pump if they were wrapped around the shaft or dragged across the intake mouth.

A number of advantages are found by use of the present invention, among which may be listed the followmg:

(l) Elimination of need for a bearing at the bottom of the apparatus immersed in the body of liquid.

(2) Simplicity and economy in manufacturing.

(3) Substantially complete enclosure or bafliing of the spray-generator so that air or other gas does not flow through the distributor, but follows baflies exterior of the cage, i.e., short circuiting of air through the center of the cage instead of through the generated spray around the cage is substantially avoided.

(4) Versatility to permit use of various different types of spray generators and collectors, etc.

(5) Non-clogging characteristics. (6) Adaptability to a variety of apparatus where liquid is required to be pumped at relatively low pressure.

(7) Versatility by reason of the possibility of varying (a) The shape of the bowl and slope of its outer wall (b) The shape and slope of the vanes on the rotating bowl (c) The presence, shape, and form, i.e., a smooth surface of rotation or having vanes, of a fixed central core within the bowl.

What I claim is:

1. A gas washing apparatus comprising a housing having gas inlet means and gas outlet means, a gas washing zone within said housing between said inlet and said outlet, means for flowing a gas to be washed into said housing through said inlet, through said washing zone and out through said outlet, reservoir means in the base of said housing for containing a volume of a stantially flat disk and at their lower ends to an annular-fiat ring forming a liquid feed inlet mouth for said generator, said ring being in a plane at right angles to said impact surfaces, means for rotating said generator secured to said upper rotatable disk, and a hollow pump body of circular cross-section having an intake opening at its lower end and an output mouth at its upper end, means including an annular flange on said pump body for securing said upper end of said pump body to said annular-fiat ring for coaxial rotation therewith whereby said .pump body output mouth and said generator inlet mouth are in tight mouth-to-mouth relation, and said pump body intake extends below the washing liquid level in said reservoir whereby liquid is driven by centrifugal force from said reservoir through said pump body and into said spray generator for washing said gas.

2. A gas washing apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein a plurality of impeller vanes are disposed along the internal surface of said pump body.

3. A gas washing apparatus as defined in claim 1 further comprising vane means extending upwardly within said reservoir and extending into said pump body to reduce eddy currents in said Washing liquid caused by rotation of said generator and .pump.

4. A gas washing apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the internal surface of said pump body flares outwardly from said intake opening to said output mouth.

5. A gas washing apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein the amount of flaring of said internal surface continuously decreases.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Saunders 103-99 X Ashley.

De Mees 103-99 Kresser 261-91 Erbach et al 261-91 Lea 261-91 X Woolery 261- 91 X Trumpler.

Jones 55-231 Umbricht et a1. 55-230 X Umbricht 55-231 X Cunetta 210-197 Ozgur.

FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain. Great Britain. Switzerland.

HARRY B. THORNTON, Primary Examiner. HERBERT L. MARTIN, Examiner. 2.5 R. R. WEAVER, S. S. HUSTING, Assistant Examiners. 

1. A GAS WASHING APPARATUS COMPRISING A HOUSING HAVING GAS INLET MEANS AND GAS OUTLET MEANS, A GAS WASHING ZONE WITHIN SAID HOUSING BETWEEN SAID INLET AND SAID OUTLET, MEANS FOR FLOWING A GAS TO BE WASHED INTO SAID HOUSING THROUGH SAID INLET, THROUGH SAID WASHING ZONE AND OUT THROUGH SAID OUTLET, RESERVOIR MEANS IN THE BASE OF SAID HOUSING FOR CONTAINING A VOLUME OF A WASHING LIQUID, AND ROTATABLE SPRAY GENERATOR MEANS CENTRALLY DISPOSED WITHIN SAID WASHING ZONE TO IMPART AND SPATTER INTO DROPLETS WASHING LIQUID FED THERETO FROM SAID RESERVOIR TO ACCELERATE SAID DROPLETS AND HURL THEM OUTWARDLY AS A DENSE HIGH VELOCITY SPRAY IN SAIS WASHING ZONE WHEREBY CONTAMINANT PARTICLES IN THE GAS TO BE WASHED FLOWING THROUGH SAID ZONE ARE REMOVED FROM THE GAS, SAID SPRAY GENERATOR HAVING A PLURALITY OF ELONGATED SUBSTANTIALLY CYLINDRICAL IMPACT SURFACES VERTICALLY DISPOSED UNIFORMLY ABOUT AN AXIS OF ROTATION AND SECURED AT THEIR UPPER ENDS TO AN UPPER ROTATABLE SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT DISK AND AT THEIR LOWER ENDS TO AN ANNULAR-FLAT RING FORMING A LIQUID FEED INLET MOUTH FOR SAID GENERATOR, SAID RING BEING IN A PLANE AT RIGHT ANGLES TO SAID IMPACT SURFACES, MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID GENERATOR SECURED TO SAID UPPER ROTATABLE DISK, AND A HOLLOW PUMP BODY OF CIRCULAR CROSS-SECTION HAVING AN INTAKE OPENING AT ITS LOWER END AND AN OUTPUT MOUTH AT ITS UPPER END, MEANS INCLUDING AN ANNULAR FLANGE ON SAID PUMP BODY FOR SECURING SAID UPPER END OF SAID PUMP BODY TO SAID ANNULAR-FLAT RING FOR COAXIAL ROTATION THEREWITH WHEREBY SAID PUMP BODY OUTPUT MOUTH AND SAID GENERATOR INLET MOUTH ARE IN TIGHT MOUTH-TO-MOUTH RELATION, AND SAID PUMP BODY INTAKE EXTENDS BELOW THE WASHING LIQUID LEVEL IN SAID RESERVOIR WHEREBY LIQUID IS DRIVEN BY CENTRIFUGAL FORCE FROM SAID RESERVOIR THROUGH SAID PUMP BODY AND INTO SAID SPRAY GENERATOR FOR WASHING SAID GAS. 